Jericho, Tuckers 01, Meet The Tuckers
by JT-of-JFF
Summary: From JerichoFanFiction; I feel a few things are missing from Jericho. Does everyone run around in the dark expecting someone to save them? The Tuckers are an attempt, if idealized, to show some other townspeople.
1. Chapter 1

**SUMMARY: The beginning chapter featuring a Jericho family that walks in the shadows of the Jericho Canon. Here they are on just another Jericho day.**

**WARNINGS: None**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I feel a few things are missing from Jericho. For one, where are the middle class families with children? For another, does everyone run around in the dark expecting someone to save them? The Tuckers are an attempt, if idealized, to show some other townspeople who aren't at the center of every episode, but for all the right reasons. I'll tie them back to the main characters shortly.

--  
FEEDBACK POLICY: Whether it is myself or any other author I encourage you to register and leave feedback. It encourages and rewards you and the author. It moves stories that you like back up where people can read them. Constructive comments encourage the writers by letting them know what you liked and disliked. In my case, it allowed audience participation in the writing process. Everybody benefits from good feedback.

DISCLAIMER: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following stories are works of fan fiction intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.  
**--  
TITLE: Tuckers- Meet The Tuckers - Chapter 1 of 4  
AKA: (1-09)Crossroads**

STORY TYPE: Complements Episodes with Alternate Characters  
TIMELINE: 200X1203 (Bombs+64)  
EPISODE GUIDE: after (1-14)Heart of Winter, before (1-15)Semper Fidelis  
--

**Quote from: 'NOTE FROM THE FUTURE'**

'NOTE FROM THE FUTURE'

To whom it may concern,

Forgive my clunky sentences and chunky flow. When I started this series I hadn't done any creative writing in twenty years and had no idea I would still be writing today. There are flaws and errors everywhere, but I believe the basic premise is sound.

At the time of this comment, I have written more than a thousand pages and I promise it gets better. Feedback has been key, but I've also had some really good betas along the way. For now, ignore the amateur mistakes and concentrate on the plot and characters. Maybe some day I can come back and clean this stuff up, but unless someone pays me to do it or I win the lottery the chances are slim.

Thank You,  
JT

Beth and John Tucker were riding their horses just the other side of the river. Jericho only had a road or two going into town, but there were all sorts of places to cross over on horse or by foot. In fact, their property was on both sides of the river.

They got up early and tended to the farm. John to the cattle and Beth to the milk and eggs. She always finished first, but that meant she got back to the house just as the kids were waking up. After breakfast, they dropped the kids at the Lawters and picked up the horses.

The Tuckers and Lawters took turns 'wandering'. In the military they would call it reconnaissance. In the animal kingdom it was foraging. The idea was to go outside the boundaries of Jericho and check farms and houses for salvage. At first they found all sorts of things but they were fast approaching diminishing returns. The simple fact was that they had checked every place they could get to in a day on horseback. Four hours out at 4 mile per hour meant they could check about 16 miles. Soon they would have to make the trips overnight or start using the truck. With winter coming the truck would be a better idea, but they didn't want to use up any more of the diesel than they had to.

"Honey, I'm cold ... its too early to do this." John knew she had to say it. It was a morning ritual going back as long as they had been married. At first he would answer her, as if he could solve her problem. Now he knew it was just something she needed to say.

Instead of saying anything, he just nudged his horse closer to hers and handed her the baby bottle bag from his saddle bags. She looked at him with a question but, took the bag and looked inside. Her face brightened and she smiled from ear to ear. "I knew there was a reason I married you."

That smile was all he needed, but he had to remind her "When they're cold, put them back in the bag. Those are for breakfast tomorrow."

With a nod, she took the hot baked potatoes and put them in her coat pockets. She still needed to hold her reins but she could alternate putting her hands in her pockets.

This trip they were going to cut across the main road near the river bridge. Since they didn't want to advertise their trip they would go about a mile out then go straight across the road.

What they were doing wasn't illegal in this day and age, but neither did they want to be seen by the home patrol at the bridge. The town was full of nice people, but there were more and more that expected hand outs. They could be doing the same thing as the Tuckers, but instead they sat around all day waiting for a government, that so far, hadn't come.

Mayor Gray was making everything worse by confiscating food from the farms that were still producing and giving it to the people that were sitting around. The Tuckers knew most of the farmers around. They would be happy to share or to trade in return for labor since most of the machinery was down.

Instead Gray just sent the deputies out with some hand scribbled writ to turn out their barns and sheds to the town. Most already had deals with ex-Mayor Green to trade their crops and give the excess to the town. Johnston Green would then use it to pay the people on home patrol and at the medical center. He also made sure the elderly and people with children got rations.

Gray got elected by the do-nothings by promising to give them something for nothing. In the end, the town would have nothing to give them and it would get ugly.

They rode for a while in the cold. John broke the silence, "We'll be crossing the road soon. Finish waking up and make sure you have everything where you can get to it."

Beth looked at him with a grin and replied "Okay dokey Mr. General." The grin then changed to a very serious look. She had three kids at home, and she was coming home tonight. If she had to kill someone to get home safely she would do it. It would sound like a cliche in a suburb driving a mini van with the soccer ball in the back window on the way back from the grocery store. Here and now, it was just a fact of life.

They both unzipped the lower half of their winter coats and swept the coat backward. He pulled his coat to the right exposing a large framed 45. She swept hers to the let and exposed a smaller polymer frame 9mm. This was just a check and they let the coats fall back down into place.

They then pulled the carbine rifles around on their slings and made sure nothing had not gotten tangled up. The carbines looked like military rifles but were really civilian models anyone could have bought. Most politicians called them assault weapons, but Beth always though of hers as a 'cool chick's gun'. With the red dot sight it was really just a point and shoot weapon with very little kick.

They never carried the carbines in Jericho because they knew Gray would try and confiscate them. Not because they were illegal, but because they were better than anything the deputies had and were very valuable. In fact, just one of these rifles could feed a family for the winter down at the blackjack market. In town they kept their pistols concealed and carried older hunting rifles like the deputies and a few other people in town.

They paused at a tree line and checked up and down the main road. The bridge was out of sight and there were no cars on the road. They crossed quickly and rode past the first dozen houses and farms. Near the road, they had been picked over already. Either by the Tuckers or by Jonah and his group.

The difference between Jonah and the Tuckers wasn't evident at first. Both were salvaging abandoned food and fuel from people that were dead or gone. Lots came from corporate farms or companies with no real owners to begin with.

The difference started to show when they had more than they could use. The Tuckers gave the excess to then Mayor Green to ration out. Jonah on the other hand tried to extort exorbitant prices from people with nothing to give. It was rumored some people had encouraged their daughters to 'date' the men at Jonah's compound in exchange for food.

They checked their map looking for houses that hadn't been searched. The Tuckers and the Lawters used the same map and notebook. They would check a house then note it in the book and on the map. If there were goods worth salvaging they would come back in the truck at night. If there was stuff they didn't need, but might some day, they made a note of it. If they found the previous owner, they would do their best to give them a quick burial.

They were two hours from their home, when they found undocumented houses. The drill was to put the horses out back on long leads. They could rest and graze a little. None of these houses would be inhabited. If the people were alive they had pulled back into town. Occasionally they did find someone in a farm, but even that was becoming rare.

The house was a simple one story with a few bedrooms. There was a deck on the back of the house but no fence. They went to the back door with pistols drawn. The door was locked, but a quick tap on the glass broke out the window. John reached in and unlocked the door. First impressions were probably correct but they still checked the house from end to end. They never seperated and always were in a spot to support each other.

The quick story was that this was a commuter who never made it home. The evidence was the car missing from the garage and the dead cat in the house. Everything was in the house as it had been on the day of the bombs.

They found some food, clothes and guns, but nothing that the Tuckers or Lawters would really need right away. Only the pistol was small enough to take with them. They detailed the rest in the notebook and would come back with the truck one night. They would need about ten homes to make it worth a trip. Checking the notebook it might take a while to find that many. They checked five more houses and a farm. Only one other house held goods worth going back for, but the farm was a gold mine.

On the farm, the main fuel storage and barns were empty, but there were several tractors and farm trucks. They would never run again, but no one had emptied their fuel tanks. There could be hundreds of gallons of diesel in them. That alone could be worth a trip in the truck.

On the way back they circled farther out along a secondary road. They could see the front doors left open on the houses and knew Jonah's people had already come through. They might be petty criminals and cretins, but if they stripped a house, there was nothing left but the walls.

Instead of riding the horses on the road, they stayed behind the houses. In the rare case they came across a fence they would cut it or go around it. The most dangerous part was just being seen. In this part of Kansas, it was pretty flat and almost no trees. Someone could see you a quarter or half mile away if they were really looking.

It was mid afternoon and they were halfway home when they saw a car in the distance. If it had been just a car in a ditch they would have just kept going, but this one was in the middle of the road and there was someone with it.

"Beth, do you see what I see?"

"I do ... Should we cut further north and ride around?"

"We could, but something doesn't feel right. That looks more like a kid than an adult."

"Let's put the horse behind the next house and take a look."

With that they both slowly walked the horses a few hundred yards. Instead of putting the horses on the long leads they tied them right up against the house using the deck railing as a hitching post. They then walked up to the corner of the house. John had taken a rifle scope from his saddle bags and held it up. It magnified the scene at the car like he was just a few feet away.

There was a dirty scrawny girl sitting in the back of an old Ford Bronco II. The hatch door was up and the girl sat there with her legs hanging out.

John handed the scope over to his wife. As a mother, her first revulsion was that she was looking at this twelve year old through cross hairs. She could see the girl shivering. The empathy she felt for the girl ... well only mothers can feel it at this magnitude.

"Imagine if that were Emma," referring to their own eight year old daughter.

"I'm trying not to."

"I know we said no refugees, but its just a little girl. She'll die out here."

"Its worse than that."

Stricken by his words, Beth put down the scope and looked at John. "What does that mean?" He was hard man when he needed to be, but he was also the most loving father and husband she could have hoped for. Right now the look on his face was stone.

"Look at her left ankle." Beth had a question on her face, but he just gestured back in the girl's direction. Beth lifted the scope to her eye and looked. On the girl's left ankle was a rope. The other end was tied to the vehicle hitch.

Beth felt her husband beside her as he whispered in her ear "...she's bait ..."


	2. Chapter 2

**SUMMARY: A continuing chapter that left us with the Tuckers finding a little girl tied to a car.**

**WARNINGS: PROFANITY, VIOLENCE**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a short action story. We learn a little more about the Tuckers and the things that make them different. I think You'll see that not many things are assumed about women in the Tuckers world. Like men then need to prove themselves.

--  
FEEDBACK POLICY: Whether it is myself or any other author I encourage you to register and leave feedback. It encourages and rewards you and the author. It moves stories that you like back up where people can read them. Constructive comments encourage the writers by letting them know what you liked and disliked. In my case, it allowed audience participation in the writing process. Everybody benefits from good feedback.

DISCLAIMER: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following stories are works of fan fiction intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.  
**--  
TITLE: Tuckers- Meet The Tuckers - Chapter 2 of 4  
AKA: (1-09)Crossroads**

STORY TYPE: Complements Episodes with Alternate Characters  
TIMELINE: 200X1203 (Bombs+64)  
EPISODE GUIDE: after (1-14)Heart of Winter, before (1-15)Semper Fidelis  
--

Her husband's words cut her to the bone... "...She's bait..."

Before he said that Beth Tucker just wanted to run out, put a jacket around that poor girl and give her a big hug her. She bet if she could get her back to Jericho that Gail Green could help her find a family to take her in. Heather Lisinski might even be able to help.

Now she felt ten times the empathy for the girl, but also anger. The type of anger that only parents can have when they see abuse and imagine if it were their own children. It explained the stone look on John Tucker's face. They weren't going to cut north and go around. John was going to get the girl.

They could see her from here with the riflescope. She couldn't be more than twelve years old. She looked starved and was shivering with he cold. The worst part was the rope around the girl's ankle securing her to the car. She was bait for anyone going by. It reminded John Tucker of big game hunters who tied out goats to attract lions for the kill, except here they was using someone's daughter to do it.

John Tucker was a caring and loving husband. He was the best father Beth had ever seen. This day and age called for hard people and right now his face was like granite.

"John, I see it in your eyes and you need to slow down. If you get tied up in this too fast things could go wrong."

She looked into his eyes and realized she wasn't getting through. She took his chin in her hands and turned his face to hers. "What are you going to do?"

He blinked first and then looked her in the eye "I'm going to slow down."

He thought for a minute and then started to detail a plan. "Beth, I want you to stay with the horses. If anything happens to me, I want you to ride straight back to town. Go straight across the bridge and tell the home patrol. Get Jake Green and tell him what happened."

She looked right back at him and thought that was the stupidest damn thing she had ever heard. It sounded like a line from some jackass cowboy movie. She started to argue with him... "If you think..."

Before she could finish the sentence he cut in "someone has to be there for the kids."

She thought about it for a moment and started to counter "which is why I am staying right here and helping you. You have always told us never to go anywhere alone and always to back each other up. Why do you expect me to stop now?"

She looked at John and he knew she had just kicked into stubborn mule mode. He'd harped on her for years about discipline and being consistent. Not only was she throwing that right back in his face, but she believed it the way she believed in God and her family. There was no use arguing.

"OK" She was right and he knew it. Two heads were better than one and doubled the chances for success. Isn't that what marriage is all about? "You're right."

"Right now, we're about 400 yards out. That's too far for the carbines. We need to get up to the next house. Take your radio and spare ammo. When we get there I want you up on that roof behind the chimney." She immediately went to her saddlebags and got the extra gear.

The radios were small little things, not good for more than a few miles. Lots of people thought the EMP wiped out everything electronic, but that simply wasn't true. Most of the things quit working because the power was gone. The pulse really did zap others. They had gone through twenty sets of radios at different houses and building before they found some that worked.

They got down behind a fence line and squat walked to the next house. In the back there was a patio with a grill. John wheeled the grill by the back door and Beth climbed on top of it. She then stood and tried to get onto the roof.

John whispered, "Watch out for the rain gutter."

She took the gutter into account and realized it really wouldn't hold her weight. She thanked the YMCA for her afternoon workouts as she braced her hands on the shingles and jumped her stomach up onto the roof. She swung her legs up onto the roof then straightened herself out.

She looked down at her husband and whispered a challenge "Let's see you find another mother of three that can do that!"

He just grinned and handed the scope up to her along with her carbine. The extra ammo was already jammed in her back pockets.

"Let me know if you see anything by just pressing the transmit button on the radio. Don't bother to say anything."

They had already discussed it. He was just being redundant. Once she was up there she would take a look around with the scope. Since they didn't have the hunting rifle it actually belonged on, she couldn't use it to shoot with. It wasn't a problem though because the sight on carbine would work at this distance. He would wait a few minutes and if she didn't click the radio he would get started.

Next to the house was a small grass field a few feet high. A cornfield would have been better, but every corn stalk for 20 miles had already been stripped. The grass field forced him to crawl on his stomach. That was slow and tiring. He went fifty yards past the car, but didn't see anything on this side of the road. As he turned around he looked and could barely see Beth on top of the house.

Suddenly he realized that someone might be inside the house. This had to be a trap and there was no one on this side of the road. What if the bad guys had a hunting rifle inside the house? They could see anyone that drove up to the car on the road. This was a huge screw up. If he went out on that road, he could be dead in a second.

He looked back at the house, but all the windows had glass and were dark. He picked up the radio and whispered for Beth to hear. "I just realized there could be someone in the house. Don't come off the roof until I get back up there." She just clicked the radio twice acknowledging that she heard.

Now he had to figure out how to get the girl without getting shot. Plan A had been to check both sides of the road before approaching her, but that was shot to hell. If he tried to get across the road there was a chance someone in the house might see him.

The only chance he had was to just run it and hope they didn't have a shot. The key now was to get as close as possible before he ran for it instead of being far away. Then he had to run to the far side of the car and surprise anyone there. Beth hadn't seen anything yet, so that meant he could be in the grass 5,20 or 50 feet back into the grass. There was a ditch over there that could give him some cover, but the bad guy wouldn't be there because a car pulling up could see him.

He thought for another minute then whispered the plan into the radio. Beth just whispered back "Love ya... Be safe."

As he crawled back through the grass he thought 'its not too late to just leave', but even as he thought it he knew there was no way they could leave her. If someone had his daughter, he would want others to help and that rope didn't exactly make her a willing participant in this ambush.

As he got even with the front of the car, he got to one knee. He was only about ten feet inside the grass but he was behind where the girl was sitting. As he sprinted he covered the thirty feet to the front bumper of the car in about five seconds. He glanced around the side of the car but his momentum was already carrying him into the ditch.

He was so stupid. It was too late. He was already heading into the ditch. He could back pedal behind the front of the car but that would only make it worse.

Growing up his father had taught him how to drive. He always told him to finish what he started, even if it was stupid. The idea was that hesitation would just compound a stupid mistake. If you pull out in front of an oncoming truck, pushing that gas harder might get you clear but trying to stop and reverse was definitely going to kill someone.

Well apparently he and the bad guy were having a contest to see who had the lower IQ. At this moment, trying to stop and reverse was definitely going to get him killed. He had already decided the bad guy wouldn't be in the ditch because that would be stupid. Well as John rounded the front bumper, there was the bad guy in the ditch. He was wearing hunter's camouflage and had a 12-gauge shotgun.

John yelled "F#!" and started to slide into the ditch.

The only thing that saved John's life at the moment was that the guy was lying in the ditch facing the wrong direction. The guy was already rolling over and trying to point the shotgun at the noise of John' running.

In the movies they always give the bad guy a chance to surrender. This wasn't a movie and it was a far cry from civilization. He literally had less than two seconds before that shotgun was pointed at him and he had no doubt that this man intended to do him harm. That was established when he tied that little girl to the car.

John Tucker brought the carbine to his shoulder. At this range, the optic on the rifle wasn't even needed. He fired two rounds into the man's center of mass. The bullets entered into the man's chest, but neither hit the heart. John fired the third shot into the head. Just as the man's head exploded, the shotgun went off.

Another half second and the guy in the ditch would have finished swinging the shotgun around. Instead it went into the front of the car. There was a second loud bang as the tire on the car explosively deflated.

The shotgun blast had half deafened him. His ears felt numb. He could see the little girl freaking out, but at the moment couldn't hear the screams.

Beth was looking through her sight as John ran around the front of the car. Then she heard the flurry of shots. She couldn't know what was going on, but she could see the girl yelling and screaming. At the sound of the shots she tried to run away from the car, but three feet later the rope around her ankle tripped her onto the asphalt. She was rolling around on the ground screaming.

Suddenly Beth realized she had been fixating on the scene at the car instead of watching around for anyone else. In the back of her mind she thought she had heard the storm door of the house crash open, but she wasn't sure that was what she had heard. By the time she took her eyes from the rifle she could see a man running across the front lawn of the house. He was already half way to the car.

She pulled the carbine tight to her shoulder and looked through the optic. In its center was a red dot. She didn't need to close both eyes or even squint. If the red dot was on the guy she would hit him. She swung the rifle over, placed the red dot on the man and pulled the trigger.

She kept looking through the optic sight and watched the bullet strike the ground just behind the man. The running man! Beth sighted again, but this time a little in front of the running man. She kept firing until she saw the man go down. Every time she pulled the trigger another rifle bullet went into the man's body. It took four more shots before she was sure he was dead.

John was just getting his hearing back when he heard another string of shots. The girl on the ground just kept freaking out, but didn't look like she had been hit. He sat upright and then moved to the rear corner of the old Bronco. The girl was at his feet trying to untie the rope. John wanted to help her, but needed another moment. He looked around the vehicle and saw a rather large male in a large pool of blood. He wasn't moving.

Beth had just gotten over shooting the one man, when another came around the vehicle. All she could see was boots and a rifle. She hoped it was John but couldn't tell because of the open hatch. She did the only thing she could do. She took aim, put her finger on the trigger and held he breath. She watched every little motion but held her fire. There were no good indications from the girl as she kept screaming and thrashing about.

As tense as she was watching the man by the vehicle, she twitched when the radio went off beside her. He finger started but did not pull on the trigger. That hesitation saved her husband's life.

"Beth, are you OK up there?"

Beth picked up the radio and asked "Is that you down by the Bronco?"

"Yeah, that's me. I'm coming out. Why don't you come on down?" John was listening for a response but it was mumbled. "Beth? What was that?"

The radio screamed her response " I said you're an ahole and I almost shot you."

John said the only thing he could under the circumstance "OK ... see you in a minute"

John knew they were taking another risk, by both coming together. He hoped there were only two, but the person that could confirm that was still screaming her head off.

She looked up at John and he could see the fear in her eyes. This girl had been through a hundred times more than any little girl should. She was frantic. Until now, he could only imagined what an abused girl's eyes looked like. There was a depth to them that seemed bottomless.

He took his rifle, put it on safe, and slung it on his back. He could still get to his pistol if he needed to. Beth would be here in a few minutes, but this girl needed some reassurance now, before she hurt herself. He had no idea what to do.

Slowly and in a soft voice, he began to sing to her. "Hush little girl, don't you cry." He mangled the lullaby completely. He could put any of their babies to sleep in 10 minutes, but he never bothered to learn the actual words. He figured the kids didn't really know any better. He really made most of them up as they went. This girl was eleven, twelve, or thirteen ... who knows but she just needs a reassuring voice.

Slowly the girl started to calm down. The screams became whimpers. The whimpers became muted crying. As Beth walked up John felt like an ass. He looked up at his wife and couldn't tell what the expression was on her face. "Its all I could think of."

She reassured him and she started to kneel down beside the girl. "Its OK. Looks like it had the right effect."

John didn't know what else to do. He was heavily into uncharted territory here. "Beth? Maybe I should take a walk and get the horses. I doubt she needs more men around her. Not after what these guys have done."

She didn't even look up from girl, who was now cradled in her arms. "That's a good idea. We're going to take it nice and easy right here for a few minutes. Could you spare your coat for her?"

John cursed himself for not thinking of that and handed it right over. He'd get cold but he had dressed in layers so it wouldn't be too bad. His wife knew he had enough body heat to spare.

As her husband walked away, Beth looked the girl over head to toe. She was filthy and in some places bloody. There were cuts on her hands and face. She couldn't tell if the girl was blue from the cold or if she was bruised that badly.

She put the coat around the girl and looked at the rope. It was a cheap nylon rope with some ugly knot around her ankle. The girl's ankle was swollen purple. She may have been wearing this rope for weeks, but the running and thrashing she had just done made it ten times worse. The knot was pulled so tight she couldn't see an end to pull out. It also looked like it was cutting off circulation to the girl's foot.

Luckily Beth carried just he tool for the job. John carried a large knife, but Beth had always preferred an EMT seat belt cutter. The blade for it was protected inside a plastic loop and she could just throw it in a pocket. She pulled it out now and reached down to the girl's ankle.

She hooked the cutter under the rope and slowly pulled it forward. The girl winced in her grip, but there wasn't anything Beth could do. The rope had to come off. The girl seemed to realize she was helping, even if it hurt a little. Beth pulled a little more and the blade started cutting the rope. One more little pull and the rope was free.

The girl looked up at Beth. That expression told Beth that it was going to be OK. Maybe not tomorrow... Maybe not the day after... She was going to need time.


	3. Chapter 3

**SUMMARY: A continuing chapter with the Tuckers that give us background and introduce us to their home and families.**

**WARNINGS: None**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: We skip the action here and give a little more background story. If you can stick with me I promise its worth the results.

--  
FEEDBACK POLICY: Whether it is myself or any other author I encourage you to register and leave feedback. It encourages and rewards you and the author. It moves stories that you like back up where people can read them. Constructive comments encourage the writers by letting them know what you liked and disliked. In my case, it allowed audience participation in the writing process. Everybody benefits from good feedback.

DISCLAIMER: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following stories are works of fan fiction intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.  
**--  
TITLE: Tuckers- Meet The Tuckers - Chapter 3 of 4  
AKA: (1-09)Crossroads**

STORY TYPE: Complements Episodes with Alternate Characters  
TIMELINE: 200X1203 (Bombs+64)  
EPISODE GUIDE: after (1-14)Heart of Winter, before (1-15)Semper Fidelis  
--

The Tuckers rode across the river heading for the house. John Tucker rode alone on one horse and his wife doubled up with a tiny little girl named Ann. The Tuckers had found the girl a few hours earlier tied up in the back of an old car. The girl had been bait for an ambush, but the Tuckers had turned the tables. They left the bodies where they laid in the road.

The sun had already started to set, but there was still enough to backlight a small valley and a couple groves of trees. This was Kansas. There were no mountains or forests. If fact, finding hills and trees was rather difficult.

The Tucker's property was shared with their friends, the Lawters. They moved out here together four years ago next spring. John Tucker and Saun Lawter had been friends since junior high school. Growing up they walked into each other's houses and called the parent there mom or dad regardless of the last name.

Years later both of them worked for companies that allowed them to telecommute. That coupled with some lottery quality investments allowed them to move where they wanted to. Amongst the two families they decided to move to the Midwest and get some land. At the time, values were down because of a drought in the area, so they were able to buy a lot of land cheap. They looked in both Kansas and Missouri, before settling in Jericho.

The main section of land was bought at auction. The farmer had died, but his children had long ago moved away. His family didn't want the farm and ordered the estate lawyer to sell it off. The second and third pieces were bought through agents. One had been listed for sale for quite a while after the company that owned it went bankrupt. The last was a question of offering the owners enough money. They kept their house but sold the land to the farm itself. It was their land that had the river access.

The couples merged the land and separated the deeds according to each couple's investment. The Lawters wanted a horse farm. Lora had grown up riding horses as a child and never let go of the dream. John Tucker had always wanted the challenge of a self-sufficient farm. The two ideas went hand in hand.

The combined farms met most of their needs now that the world had changed for the worse. Since they weren't retiring they still needed to run everything as a business. With the death of the private farm and the upswing in organic foods, they were in a great position to fill new niches. The big shippers could send their products anywhere over night, even from tiny little Jericho. They raised specialty vegetables the gourmet restaurants wanted but the big companies didn't want to deal with.

They even kept their day jobs. Ironically, Jericho had great Internet connectivity. It allowed them to work from home with flexible hours. Saun wrote code for and designed web sites. John maintained remote databases. This took up half their time and the farms the rest.

The women of the families found the best way to mix professional careers and family was to do one then the other. Beth had gotten her masters and taught at the high school level for years. Once they had the third child, it was just cheaper to stay at home, than to keep working. Lora had her MD but after finishing her residency was burned out. The hospital contained too many hours and too much stress. Her only chance to have a family was to get out of medicine.

Lora's green eco streak had inspired them all. There was solar power and wind turbines. Pre-bombs, they actually had enough power to put some back into the grid and get paid for it. Most of the sheds and garages were built back into the hillside using concrete arches. The advantage at the time was it made them tornado proof and kept them at a constant earth temperature. Not only didn't they require AC but also they were great root cellars for potatoes and other root crops.

They had built their two houses within sight of each other at the mouth to the valley. They had big wrap around porches and basements that went back into the hillside. The houses were partially hidden from the street by distance and some trees. Lately they had even put heavy drapes over the windows to keep the light in at night.

The Lawters house was not only adjacent to the horse stables but even had a hitching post by the front steps. This is where the Tuckers stopped their horses and tied them up. They would come out later and walk them down to the barn. Right now they needed to get inside.

John was through the door first. Saun was right there holding a hot mug of broth. "Where have you guys been? You should have been here an hour ago."

John Tucker just looked at Saun and told them there had been a delay, but "Everything is all right."

Drew Tucker heard his father's voice and came running right into his father's legs. If John hadn't bent his knees and leaned a little forward Drew would have knocked him down. Drew was ten going on eleven and had all the energy of a small sun. "Where have you been? Emma has been driving me crazy!"

Emma chose this time to come down the stairs, "I have not. Just because you lost the word puzzle doesn't mean I did anything wrong." These two were just eighteen months apart, but acted like they were fraternal twins. Make that conjoined twins, because they were never far apart.

Lora Lawter came from the kitchen area; "I already put Sam to bed. You can leave him here with us tonight."

John Tucker was still holding the door open when Beth Tucker came through it. In front of her was a scrawny little girl wearing John' extra large winter jacket. The jacket literally went down to her knees. The girl's face was dirty with several small bruises and cuts. She looked down at the floor and shuffled her feet. "Everyone, this is Ann. She'll be staying with us tonight."

The new guest surprised everyone, but it was Emma who responded first. "She can stay in my room." Then looked right at Ann. "I have some really nice toys." The look on her face showed how delighted Emma would be to have someone to play with instead of her stupid brother.

John tried to slow everyone down; preventing too may questions all at once. "Actually I think we'll stay over here tonight, but you two" pointing and Drew and Emma "are going to bed right now. No questions. You know which room to use."

The kids knew better than to argue, but their parents also knew there was no way they were actually going to sleep. The both started up the steps. The pounding feet were definitely meant to show their displeasure. Everyone left his or her doors open so the heat from the fireplace could get in. They would listen as much as they could but eventually would go to bed.

John turned and looked at Saun and Lora. "I hope you guys don't mind, but the house is bound to be too cold right now."

Saun just retorted, "Please ... like we don't do this all the time." It was actually true. There was no sense heating both houses all the time, but usually it was the other way around with the Lawters staying at the Tuckers a few nights a week.

"I know but usually we plan it"

This time it was Lora who answered, "I think we can make the exception." She knelt down in front of Ann. "If you're chilly, you can sit down in front of the fire." Ann looked at her but didn't move from here space in front of Beth. Lora tried again, "If you warm up by the fire, I can go get you some food."

That did the trick. The girl looked up at Beth and then shuffled over in front of the fireplace. There was a rug on the hardwood floor and she sat down on it. At first she tried to cross her legs but you could tell her ankle caused her pain. Instead she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

They started her with the hot broth that Saun had been holding. She took it in both hands and let the warmth spread into her fingers. It wasn't steaming hot, but it seemed to comfort her. Next they gave her some hard crusted bread. She tried to eat the entire chuck and it became apparent how hungry the girl was.

Beth knelt beside the girl and suggested; "Why don't you tear off small chunks." There was butter stored in the 'outdoor fridge', but they really wanted her to go slow. "Why don't you soak it in the broth 'til its soft." The girl tried it and looked up at Beth. There was little a more light in her eyes.

Lora has seen cases like this during her ER and pediatrics rotations. Right now the girl needed rest and to make her own choices. "Ann, would you like to wash up and put on some clean clothes?"

She looked up at the men in the room. They realized it was their time to leave. They both excused themselves. They would put the horses in the stable and then head upstairs. Ann didn't actually answer. In fact her name was the only thing she had told anyone that day. She looked up to Lora and just nodded her head.

The family had already used the warm water (no one pretended it ever got hot) from a solar heater on the roof. Pre-bombs, the water would then have been boosted by a gas heater to full temperature. As a rule everyone tried to take his or her showers or baths in the evenings as the water would be ice cold by morning. The only thing available at this time of night would be the teakettle that was left to the side of the fireplace. It would not be enough for a bath, but it would let the girl cleanup.

The two ladies took her into the bathroom. While Beth mixed the hot water with some cold water in the sink, Lora showed Ann where the soaps and towels were. "Here you go. Take what you need, but go slow. You can have a full bath tomorrow night. We'll be just outside if you need us." The ladies exited the bathroom, but left the door cracked.

As they moved back into the living room, Lora heard her name whispered. She looked up to the balcony where Saun stood. "Here's a start" and he dropped some clothes to Lora. She looked through them and found her old socks, a shirt and jogging pants. "Is there anything else you'll need?"

"Actually, how about one of your old sweatshirts? A really big one."

"Coming right down."

Every few minutes one of the ladies would walk past the door. They didn't know what to expect and hoped the girl was getting along. After about fifteen or twenty minutes, the door opened all the way. Ann stood there, looking at the two ladies instead of at the floor. Her face was clean and her hair pulled back. The sweat pants and sweatshirt were too large. She had rolled up the pants and the sleeves. At least it looked like it would be comfortable for her.

Lora looked her up and down. The important part was that the girl looked like she felt better. Now it was time to give her another choice. "Would you like to sleep in your own room upstairs or would you like to stay on the couch down here in front of the fire?"

Ann looked at Lora and answered in a meek little voice; "Can I stay down here?"

"Yes you can. I'll bring you a blanket and you can sleep here on this couch." She paused and then gave her another option. "Do you mind if I stay down here with you?" Ann shook her head 'no'. "Then I'll sleep just over there." "Beth why don't you go upstairs. You know Sammy will be up at least once tonight."

Beth nodded in agreement, "Now if I can just figure out who's in what room." She smiled then walked upstairs to check on her kids and find her husband. Lora may not have any children of her own yet, but she had more than shown herself capable with the Tucker's menagerie.

Lora went into the kitchen and put a few things away, then went back into the living room. Ann was already asleep. The girl had rolled herself in the blanket and tucked her arms in. Lora guessed it was a preteen version of a swaddle. If only the girl was a little baby. Too innocent to know what this girl knew. Too young to have experienced what she had lived through.


	4. Chapter 4

**SUMMARY: A continuing chapter with the Tuckers that shows us home life and begins to tell Ann's Story.**

**WARNINGS: None**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just more background. I'm setting this up for more of Ann's story. I've already decide don a second series.

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DISCLAIMER: The name "Jericho" and all character names and trademarks associated with the television program are the intellectual property of Junction Entertainment, Fixed Mark Productions, CBS Paramount Television and/or CBS Studios, Inc. The following stories are works of fan fiction intended solely as an intellectual exercise without profit motive. No infringement of copyright is intended or should be implied.  
**--  
TITLE: Tuckers- Meet The Tuckers - Chapter 4 of 4  
AKA: (1-09)Crossroads**

STORY TYPE: Complements Episodes with Alternate Characters  
TIMELINE: 200X1203 (Bombs+64)  
EPISODE GUIDE: after (1-14)Heart of Winter, before (1-15)Semper Fidelis  
--

First thing in the morning everyone was up. With eight people in one house, it only took one or two of the children to wake up before everyone was up. They had too much energy normally, but this morning they knew they had a visitor.

Lora Lawter went to tend the horses. They would be fed and turned out into the paddock to stretch their legs. Normally she would put them in the pasture for the day, but today was a market day and they might be headed into town. With horses being so valuable, they rarely left the Lawter's immediate control. If they did go into town they would take the same horses they always did. That way people would assume they only had the four.

John Tucker checked on the cattle. Again, they were kept close to the barn unless someone could stay with them. It was getting time to slaughter one of the cows, but not today. With winter coming hard, nature would supply them with a freezer. If this were summer half the meat would go to waste before they could use it. The only way to take the meat to the market would be to claim it as deer or elk that had been hunted.

The families hated the deceptions that were required. Staying alive was now a combination lottery and poker game. You could never show everyone your cards and hoped every day you got lucky.

Even if they did go to town, only two of the adults would go. The odds of someone getting on the property were just too great. Some were evil, but some were good at heart. All would covet its contents.

As a rule, Jonah wouldn't be a problem. While he had ideas of what the families had here, he also knew they weren't the typical townspeople. Four of his men had tried to come down the driveway and run roughshod over the families. He never saw them again. Two others had tried to sneak onto the property. Their bodies showed up on the driveway to Jonah's compound. No one saw who dropped them, but the message was clear. Even his most hard-nosed men knew to look elsewhere.

Saun Lawter got the duty with the children. Beth was doing milk and eggs. She offered to switch but there wasn't much he hated worse. Emma was the first one up. The concept of having a girl to play with was just too tempting to sleep through. And if Emma was up then Drew was up. Saun wasn't sure but he swore if one sneezed the other would too. They seemed inseparable. That's not to say that they don't have their own friends, but even when the world was whole they still stayed in sight of each other.

Saun intercepted the two of them on the staircase. "OK you two, into the kitchen. Don't wake up Ann."

Emma protested. "Uncle Saun…… I was just going to say hello."

"Not yet. Let her wake up on her own. Now what do you want for breakfast? Oatmeal or oatmeal?"

Both children scrunched up their faces and replied in unison "Pop-tarts!!"

It was Saun's turn to make a face. They weren't referring to real pop-tarts. Those had been used up since bombs plus two. In the weeks after they found the dessert packs in the emergency MREs. Children will adapt, because to Saun they tasted like stale and soggy saw dust. Their parents let them have one a week, but it was a moot point. "You know we don't have any over here. They're all at your house."

Even the Tucker children weren't silly enough to volunteer to go out in the cold. They resigned to the oatmeal and settled in.

The kitchens of both houses had commercial grade stainless stoves. They ran off of propane and there was plenty of it, but was being held in reserve just in case. It could be used for the stoves, the water heater or the emergency generator.

The government might come in tomorrow and restore civilization, but that was looking more and more like a distant memory. Instead they had salvaged old wood burning stoves. They weren't actually stoves per se but they worked for the purpose. Where the breakfast nook had been there was a cast iron behemoth and a stack of firewood. The chimney went out the window.

The stove also made the kitchen nice and toasty. It was the heat more than food that brought Sammy downstairs carrying a blanket with him. At four he was the youngest Tucker. While Drew and Emma took after their father, Sammy identified directly with his mother. "Its too cold this morning." He settled into the window bench of the breakfast nook right behind the stove. Like his mother, he would sit on the stove if someone would let him. Early on he had ruined a set of PJs when he melted the feet. He didn't harm his own feet, but the bunny feet only lasted another day or two before shredding.

The oatmeal was ready before long. The kids were digging in when a little face appeared around the doorjamb. Ann had finally woken up. She was the oldest child in the room, but only a little bit bigger than Drew and Emma. The malnutrition was obvious. Lora had already briefed Saun on what she should and shouldn't eat. Vegetables and cereals would be good. Butter or oil would be bad. No meat just yet.

"Good morning Ann." He tried to sound as normal as possible. At some time, she had been in a normal family and an assumption of normality or familiarity might be best for her. She would have demons until the day she died, but right now her diagnosis was short sighted. Love, comfort and food were all equally important. If she felt up to it, Lora wanted to take her in to see April at the clinic today.

Emma saw Ann and jumped down off of her stool. She ran over to Ann taking her by the hand. She led her back to the breakfast counter and nudged her onto the third stool. "Saun is a really good cook. You can have oatmeal or soy puffs. There's milk and eggs. We even have apple juice!"

To a girl that hadn't had more than a bite or two in a month it was already overwhelming. Shaun moved fast to calm Emma down. Lora had stressed choices, so he offered Ann oatmeal or soy puffs and milk. "You have milk?"

"Yes, it may not taste the same as you're used to but we like it."

"Then can I have the puffs?"

"I'll have it for you in just a minute. Emma, finish you oatmeal. Drew, If you're done rinse out your bowl and stack it neatly to the side."

A minute later he had a cereal bowl for Ann. They grew several sections of soybeans on the farm. They used it to make gourmet tofu. They also sent the raw pods grown in the greenhouse to restaurants as edamame. The best part is that the fields on the other side of the river were largely ignored. Corn would be stripped in minutes, but most people passing by assumed the soy was a cattle feed.

The cereal in the bowl was not unlike big fat rice crispies. It has some sugar and cinnamon. To Ann it was heaven. She virtually inhaled it. Saun had been prepared for that by serving her a small bowl. Ann asked seconds.

That was when the rest of the adults came in. There were greetings all around, but each of them was amazed at the difference in the stray little girl.

Lora was the first to react. "Looks like someone might be well enough to travel into town today. What do you say Ann? Would you like to go into town?"

Ann looked up with just a little fear in her eyes, but Lora's answers calmed her. "We might go to the market or stop by the clinic. You do have some rather nasty cuts." Until she got to the last part. "Besides we might need to let someone know that you stayed with us. I'm sure your parents are worried."

The girl's eyes fell. "There's no one. Tim and Josh killed them. They wouldn't give them the car."

At this point most parents would stand mouths agape at the child's frankness. Even if they kept their composures, they would run the younger children from the room. The Tuckers had already discussed this on the walk up from the barns. It was best that the children learned it now. Like running out in the road or a stove that is hot, they rarely learn the real lesson until there is shock to their own system. They had been telling the children for weeks that it was dangerous out there, but they really didn't have a frame of reference.

Even a civilized world there is very little civility. Post-bombs there was no civilization and there was a whole lot of hostility.

"Were those the men from yesterday?"

"No. That was Tom and Frank. They bought me about a week ago."

The thing that broke everyone's heart was the flat line in her voice. There was no highs or lows in it until the end. She looked at the floor. "You won't sell me will you?"

Beth Tucker rushed up to the girl, "No… we'll try and find you a nice home."

Resigned the girl said, "Then you're trading me?"

"No those days are over. We're going to find you a nice family that will treat you as part of their own. More like you real parents."

The girl nodded but didn't sound convinced.

Beth looked up at everyone. "Looks like we'll be making a trip into town today. Boys, can you mind the farm?"

"I think we'll get by. Do you want to take the kids with you?"

"I think so." Looking at Drew and Emma; "You guys have been here all week. Want to go into town?"

The kids didn't answer. They ran across the yard to the Tucker house and changed for the day. Sammy ran up to his mother and pulled at the tops of her jeans. She put him on her hip and let everyone know they'd be ready in about an hour.

While the families got ready the men went out and readied the horses and carts. Since there would be five and a half people and trading goods, they readied two carts. The carts had been built before the bombs as a means of running around the farm with the kids. They also had ATVs, but they wanted the kids to be comfortable around the horses. While these were raised as dressage horses, they were strong and the carts light. The carts were horse buggies of a type. The main axle connected two motorcycle wheels. The cart itself was made of aluminum to keep the weight down. There was a small bench seat facing forward large enough for two people. There was an identical seat facing backward. The floors were low to the ground and had room for a few boxes.

The horses were Andalusians. All were pure bloods and ran as high as 40,000 each. Of course now a horse was a horse. You either rode it or come winter, ate it. They were strong horses that were raised for jumping competitions. A few years ago they had really caught on as a favorite. The stable had sold several yearlings and the largest stallion brought in high stud fees.

As they selected the horses for the carts, they selected the same four horses that always went into town. There were nine horses, but riding different ones into town just advertised a wealth few people knew. It was akin to wearing gold and diamonds in a bad part of town. It just invited problems.

Lora Lawter took Ann in one cart and the Tucker brood rode on the second one. The ladies checked their pistols, but otherwise carried no rifles. They didn't mean they didn't have any carbines with them. It just meant that no one got to see them. Under each seat was a lock box. The front one had a carbine and ammunition. The rear one had a medical bag and an emergency kit.

Life on this side of the river wasn't that bad. Town wasn't but a few miles and they would be there in fifteen or twenty minutes. The home patrol kept criminals from entering across the bridges and controlled the refugees coming into town.

That isn't to say that it was crime or hassle free. There were more beggars than ever. In New York, then would have been panhandlers. Here they were people that you knew. Money couldn't cure their problems. Instead they were asking for the very bread you kept you own family alive with.

Any way you looked at it, it was too late to lecture. FEMA for years had told people to keep at least three days of food and water available. That was a minimum. For anyone that watched the debacle that was the Katrina rescues, you quickly realized a week or month wasn't unreasonable. In the age of the big box bargain warehouses, it was easy to keep weeks of food rotated in a pantry.

Many of the people in town ran out of food soon after the bombs hit. For people that ate out and shopped per meal, they ran out that day. Running to an ATM did nothing. Credit cards no longer scanned. No one accepted checks. Even Gracie's store was stocked weekly. With no re-supply, there was nothing to buy.

The Tuckers knew of a lawyer and his wife in town that had more than two million dollars in investments. After the EMP, they both overdosed. They had sold everything not nailed down to Gracie or Jonah, but once that was gone refused to accept the town's welfare.

Desperate people had started doing desperate things.

Beth and Lora drove the carts to the front gate. The automatic opener had died with EMP, so Lora got out and opened it manually. Beth rode through followed by Lora. By then Beth was out of the cart and closed the gate. They rode one after the other towards Jericho.

John and Saun set to their work for the day. For Saun that meant tending to the greenhouses. John saddled one of the horses and went out for a patrol of the property.


End file.
